My husband and I bought a fixer-upper in 2009, a (potentially) cute townhouse we have lovingly called "The Townhouse Gallery"--more on why later. We plan to live here only while I earn my PhD, so it is key that we get on with the fix-y part. But time really flies when you're knee-deep in wood dust and broken tile. In a year we have really turned things around but we are definitely not done. I'm so happy to have baseboards, I've only recently begun to think about decorating!

I want to share our experiences, with the greedy and self-serving intention of getting some great advice and comments. In exchange, I promise to chronicle our jounrney honestly, sharing some of the things we (unfortunately) learned by trial and error. I love tips and strategies from anecdotal evidence and not theory. As in, "in theory, this grout should be a perfect consistency if you follow the instructions to the letter". I want to know what actually can happen.